Kelly Joe Phelps, blues and country musician, dies aged 62

Musician celebrated for slide guitar playing and soulful voice released a string of acclaimed albums between 1994 and 2012

Kelly Joe Phelps, the celebrated singer and guitarist whose music traversed blues, country and jazz, has died aged 62. A post on his Facebook page said he died quietly at home in Iowa".

Born in Washington state, Phelps was raised in a musical family and first trained as a jazz musician, but broadened his playing after being inspired by artists such as Mississippi Fred McDowell. I wanted to figure out a way to improvise like a jazz musician would, but at the same time play a style of music that was more closely linked to folk forms," he explained.